Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stock Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Brokerages

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.25.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Benchmark upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Cathay General Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Friday, October 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total value of $99,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,554.14. This represents a 40.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard Sun sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.31, for a total value of $1,266,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $463,112.65. The trade was a 73.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock worth $1,996,362 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,636,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $989,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,018,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,426,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 351,195 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,511,000 after purchasing an additional 91,820 shares during the period. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CATY opened at $59.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $61.74 and its 200-day moving average is $59.38. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $44.57 and a 1-year high of $65.25.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $221.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.28 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 24.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cathay General Bancorp will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 29.69%.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and institutions through branch offices, digital banking channels and other delivery platforms.

Cathay Bank offers deposit products, commercial and consumer lending, residential and commercial real estate financing, small business loans, trade finance and cash management services. The bank also provides online and mobile banking, wealth management and other financial services designed to support personal and business banking needs.

Founded in 1962, Cathay Bank has historically served communities in the United States with strong ties to the Chinese-American and broader Asian-American markets.